


Not a Hero

by Sutured_Sentiment



Series: Coldflash Week 2017 [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Bodyswap, Coldflash Week 2017, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Tumblr: coldflashweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10918893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sutured_Sentiment/pseuds/Sutured_Sentiment
Summary: A new metahuman is wreaking havoc in Central City and Len gets caught in the middle of it.Now he's in Barry's body, and Barry's in his. How will he do, trying to play the hero?Coldflash Week 2017- Day Four: Body Swap





	Not a Hero

Len didn’t know what was happening. The world was tilting around him and he felt like he was going to puke if it didn’t stop soon. His head was throbbing painfully like he had just been hit by a sledgehammer and his hands were shaking. In all honesty, it felt like a hangover- the worst hangover  _ ever _ . He thought back to the last night. He didn’t remember going to the bar, and it had been years since he let himself get wasted enough for  _ this _ . He pressed his palms against his eyelids and groaned.

He stood up on wobbly legs and realized two things. 1.) He was a good inch or two taller and 2.) he knew for a fact he wasn’t supposed to be this…  _ lanky _ . He glanced down at himself and nearly fell back down in shock. This was  _ not _ his body. 

“What. The. Hell?” He was wearing skinny jeans- seriously,  _ skinny jeans _ \- and a pair of dirty converse. Under a sweater he had on a plaid collared shirt, and if that wasn’t an interesting fashion statement, he didn’t know what was. He looked down at his hands. They were bigger with long slender fingers. They weren’t the calloused hands that had been holding a gun for the better part of his life. He felt his stomach sinking further and further to his toes. This was the body of a runner. 

“Shit,” he said under his breath as he ran a hand through his now scruffy hair. He could already tell this was going to be a  _ very  _ long day. With that, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and walked towards the direction of STAR Labs, not daring to go any faster than an amble. 

When he finally reached STAR Labs, he was greeted by some very…  _ not  _ surprised faces. He frowned before his eyes finally found a very familiar face.  _ His  _ face. And it was glaring at him. He stepped forward cautiously.

“Barry?” 

“Snart,” he greeted tersely in response. Okay… Len was thoroughly weirded out now. Somehow Barry was in his body, and likewise, he was in Barry’s. He wondered if Barry felt just as creeped out as him, having his own face staring back at him and talking. He whirled around to face the others gathered in the room. 

“How did this happen,” he demanded. Cisco raised his hands in defense.

“Hey, man, don’t look at us. We had nothing to do with this one.” Len glared at him before Barry stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I was roofied.” Len blinked a couple times as his brain tried to process his sentence.

“Someone spiked your drink.” Barry nodded, looking very grumpy about it. Len wasn’t feeling much better.

“Okay… how exactly did that cause…  _ this _ ?” It didn’t make sense. No drug could make them swap bodies. It wasn’t logical. It was like something from a science-fiction novel. Len hated science-fiction novels. Caitlyn stepped towards him before he could break down- this was all just too much for him at the moment. She awkwardly rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“We’re not exactly sure yet, but we’re pretty certain a metahuman is behind it all. Unfortunately we can’t do any tests on him because he’s in your body, which wasn’t exposed to the drug. And we can’t test you- er… Barry’s body because it burns through any drugs it’s exposed to within seconds,” she explained.

“If his body burns off the drugs, then how come we were still affected? What kind of drug works that fast,” he asked. Caitlyn shook her head.

“We don’t know. Nothing is really  _ supposed  _ to work that fast. It’s impossible. Which is why we think it was a metahuman. We’ve seen people who can do some pretty crazy things. But at this point, everything we have is theoretical.” Len pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on fast. They were in the dark here, with no way to fix whatever the hell was happening to them. He let his hands fall limply at his sides in defeat.

“So, what do we do now?” Everyone shifted nervously, no one wanting to give a response. Finally, Barry stepped forward, his face grim.

“Unfortunately crime doesn’t stop just because I’m out of commission. Which means you’ll have to play superhero until we can figure this out,” he said. 

“You want  _ me _ to be the Flash?” Barry gave a short nod. Len groaned.

“You have got to be kidding me! This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it Scarlet?” Barry grimaced.

“I’m just as upset as you are, but we can’t let the city run rampant. You love Central too. You don’t want a bunch of metahumans destroying it do you?” Len had to grudgingly admit, he had a point. But how was he supposed to do this?

“I can give you pointers if you want,” Barry offered after a long pause. Len sighed. They were actually going to go through with this.

Five hours and about twenty painful crashes later, Len was feeling sore all over and his pride was all but gone. He slumped tiredly against the cardboard boxes that had served as some semblance of padding but now lay crumpled and scattered across the ground.

“Can we be done yet,” he whined. Barry shook his head.

“No. You may have the speed and coordination down.” He glanced at the boxes.

“But your stops could still use some work.” Len opened his mouth to retort when Cisco came rushing into the room.

“Guys, we’ve got a meta wreaking havoc.” Normally Barry be running to get his suit before Cisco even had time to finish his sentence, but when he looked over at Len, he saw that the man had yet to move a muscle. Len noticed his stare and returned it with a scowl. 

“What exactly do you want  _ me  _ to do about it,” he demanded. He wasn’t a hero. He was a criminal; a thief and a murderer. He didn’t go busting in to save the day. He broke down doors and stole anything that shined. Barry glared at him.

“Suit up and stop them. That’s what I want you to do. That’s what the Flash is  _ supposed  _ to do!”

“News flash, kid. I’m not the Flash!” He was just in the Flash’s body. He was still  _ Len _ . He was still the villain of the story. What was stopping him from taking this body, these _ powers _ , and robbing a bank in the blink of an eye? Oddly enough, the thought didn’t sit well with him. He sighed.

“Fine.” Without another word he ran to where he knew Barry’s suit was kept. It was weird being able to move so fast. The world simply seemed to slow down around him.  _ Weird _ . He didn’t dwell on it too long.

“Alright, someone tell me where the hell I’m supposed to be going,” he growled into his comms. A moment later, Cisco’s voice was crackling in his ear.

“Central Bar, downtown.” The world blurred around him as he picked up his speed, and within minutes he was standing in front of the neon signs that marked the place, wondering what he was supposed to do now that he was there.

“Hello, Flash. I was wondering when you’d finally get here. I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t show.” He looked up. Standing on the edge of the roof was a man dressed in a leather jacket two sizes too big for his scrawny form, and dark jeans.

“Who the hell are you?” The man laughed before he stepped off the ledge. For a second, Len thought he was going to splat against the pavement, but a moment before he could, the man was floating a few inches above it. 

“You can call me the Matchmaker,” he said with a wide grin. Cisco groaned over the comm system.

“ _ Lame _ !” Len had to agree.

“What do you even do,” he questioned. The man looked insulted. 

“I guess you could say I ‘swap’ people. So far, I can only swap lovers, but one day I’ll be able to swap anyone I want. Imagine the possibilities.” Len froze, tuning out the rest of his sentence as his mind went into overdrive.  _ Lovers _ ? The other end of his communications was quiet, with only static meeting his ears, indicating he wasn’t the only one shocked by the news. There must be some kind of mistake. Before the man could react, Len had him by the front of his jacket, pinning him against the wall.

“How do you reverse it,” he snarled in his face. The man’s eyes were wide and fearful. 

“It’s only temporary! I’m still working out all the kinks,” he squeaked. 

“You guys hear that?” There was a pause.

“Yeah… Loud and clear. Now bring him back to the Labs so we can get him in the pipeline.” It was Barry’s voice that spoke this time and he felt his stomach go queasy. He muttered a quick affirmative and he was off. 

They made quick work of him. Now the team was gathered in the room, all of them waiting patiently- others  _ im _ patiently- for the effects of his drug to wear off. Len was anxiously fiddling with his- Barry’s suit. He wanted nothing more than to be back in his own body and get the hell out of there. He felt closed in and jittery, especially with Barry so close. He had no doubt that the other man had heard his conversation with the meta, if his long looks were anything to go by.

Finally, it happened. Both Barry and Len groaned, clutching their heads tightly as they doubled over. It was over in a matter of seconds, but when Len straightened back up, his head was still throbbing painfully. He looked down at himself and was relieved to find himself wrapped in a familiar blue jacket. He held out his hands, no longer long and slender. Then he glanced down at his feet; no longer clad in red leather, but instead a pair of worn boots. It was good to be back.

He looked over to where Barry was recovering, getting to his feet with a large happy grin on his face. He was looking down at his suit, tracing his hands along the seams. Now that Len thought about it; red was definitely Barry’s color. He tried to ignore the way his heart stuttered in his chest and pushed the thought back.

“Finally. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve lasted without being able to get up and run,” he breathed before dashing across the room in a blur. Len bit back an amused laugh. He had forgotten just how energetic Barry was. It must have been dreadful having to move at the same pace as everyone. Len had to admit that there was definitely a thrill in being able to move at the speed of sound.

Quickly, Len turned away from the happy scene before him and slipped away unnoticed from the people now flocking Barry. He walked briskly towards the door out of the labs, his footsteps echoing loudly in the silence. As he stepped outside and turned to face the looming building, he suddenly felt a sense of loss in his chest. He could never be the hero Barry deserved in his life. He knew that… and yet… he still found himself wondering. What if it could work? 

    He sighed and began his long walk home, already missing the speedster’s powers, but missing the speedster himself even more. He frowned. ‘ _Stupid Matchmaker._ ’ This wasn’t supposed to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it seems a bit rushed, but I'm exhausted and wanted to finish this. So yeah... I might go back and rewrite it later? I don't know yet.


End file.
